Illumination system and method for maintaining a common illumination value on a release command sent from a keypad

ABSTRACT

An illumination system and method is disclosed for maintaining a consistent change in illumination value among a group of illumination devices whenever a change command is manually sent from a keypad to those illumination devices. The consistent change results from maintaining a common start illumination value among not only the group, but also the keypad which controls the group. From the start illumination value, the keypad can then compute an end illumination value depending upon the amount of time that the increase or decrease in illumination value button is depressed and held. Since the start change signal can arrive on different illumination devices within the group depending upon where each illumination device is geographically located, a masking time is reserved after the button is released so that enough time is allocated for each of the illumination devices within that group to arrive at a common end illumination value regardless of their disparate location to the keypad, the number of hops or interference therebetween.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/813,097, filed Mar. 9, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/417,107, filed May 20, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No.10,588,207, issued Mar. 10, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/878,742, filed Jan. 24, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No.10,299,356, issued May 21, 2019, entitled “Illumination System andMethod for Maintaining a Common Illumination Value on a Release CommandSent from a Keypad”, the entire disclosures of each of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to multiple illumination devices arranged withina communication network to illuminate a structure, and to be controlledby one or more remote controller keypads that, after a press, hold andthereafter release of a button on the keypad, the illumination devicescontrolled by the keypad change and thereafter obtain a commonillumination value with each other and with the keypad.

2. Description of the Relevant Art

The following descriptions and examples are provided as background onlyand are intended to reveal information that is believed to be ofpossible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarilyintended, nor should be construed, that any of the following informationconstitutes prior art impacting the patentable character of the subjectmatter claimed herein.

Within a structure are various lighting devices such as lamps, that arehereinafter referred to as illumination devices. Typically, a structurecontains multiple illumination devices scattered about rooms of thatstructure. The illumination devices within a room can be controlled byone or more keypads oftentimes situated on or near a wall of thatcorresponding room.

Popular types of illumination devices include incandescent lights,fluorescent lights, and the increasingly popular light emitting diode(LED) lights. Of particular importance is that for general illumination,LEDs provide an opportunity to adjust their illumination value more sothan other general illumination devices. For example, the driver circuitwithin an LED illumination device can more readily receive commands tochange illumination values so as to give a broader spectrum ofillumination control than incandescent and fluorescent lights.Illumination values are defined as illumination properties of anillumination device, such as a value that has an effect on illuminationor the illumination device output. An example of illumination valueincludes intensity, brightness, color temperature, chromaticity, tint,shade, tone, vibrancy, illuminance, flux, etc.

There are various ways in which to control an illumination value of anillumination device, such as an LED. One way is to send a command from akeypad that is wirelessly connected to the illumination devices that arebeing controlled. Typically, the illumination devices within a structureare coupled within a network, and all of the illumination devices can besegregated into groups. For example, there can be one group associatedwith one room, and another group can be associated with another room. Akeypad can control one or more groups of illumination devices as long asthat keypad can wirelessly communicate with those groups.

The illumination devices can be interconnected wirelessly through awireless personal area network (WPAN), with radio frequency (RF) orinfrared (IR) wireless communication from a keypad to a group ofillumination devices occurring over one or more hops of a routing tablestored in each of the illumination devices within the WPAN. When abutton is pressed on a keypad, for example, a broadcast or groupcastcommand can be sent to a group of illumination devices via the routingtable across a plurality of hops to the final destination illuminationdevice within that group. For example, if an illumination value is to bechanged among a group of illumination devices, a single press, doublepress, or press and hold user activity on a keypad button can be used tochange the illumination value imparted on or output from the group.

A problem occurs, however, when some illumination devices within a groupare more distal than others within that same group. When a command iswirelessly sent from a keypad via, for example, a press and holdactuation on a button, an increase or decrease in illumination valuecorresponding to the amount of time that button is pressed and held willregister differently among the group of illumination devices. The amountof time that a press and hold actuation occurs indicative of the amountof change in illumination value imparted on the corresponding group ofillumination devices can vary depending on the length of the wirelesscommunication, the number of hops between the keypad source and thetarget destination, any interference on the communication channel, andthe number of retries that might be needed. If the amount of time that abutton is pushed and held is to correspond with the amount of change inillumination value registered on the group of illumination devices beingcontrolled, then the nearest illumination device may have a greaterchange in illumination value than the more distal illumination devicedue to the natural shortcomings of wireless RF communication within ahop-based WPAN. Accordingly, keypads that have plus (+) and minus (−)buttons to increase/decrease one or more illumination values in thecorresponding illumination devices being controlled, those keypads cansend the illumination value change signal from the keypad at the sametime yet the change command is nonetheless received at different timeson different illumination devices being controlled thereby leavingillumination devices within the controlled group at differentillumination values when the plus or minus button is released. Thisproblem is compounded when the plus or minus button is pressed again,later. The dissimilar end illumination values registered on the groupwhen the button is released becomes the dissimilar start illuminationvalues when the button is pressed again. Thus, the start illuminationvalue for the next press and hold activity becomes even further out ofsync among the group, causing the more distal illumination devices tocompound their lessened illumination value change relative to the closerillumination devices for each successive press, hold and release.

It is therefore desirable to implement a wireless network ofillumination devices segregated into groups controlled by one or morekeypads having a button that can be pressed, held, and thereafterreleased to effectuate not only the same amount of illumination valuechange among a group of disparate illumination devices, but also toensure that the start illumination value among that group is the same,as well as the end illumination value among that group. A need exists inhaving a structure containing one or more groups of illumination devicescontrolled by one or more keypads that can broadcast a group address tothe corresponding group of illumination devices being controlled, aswell as a start change signal or command to start illumination change tothat group. A need also exists in computing an end illumination valuewithin the keypad and sending the end illumination value as a command toachieve that end illumination value to the group of illumination devicesso that regardless of when each illumination device receives the startchange command, each of the group of illumination devices change itscorresponding illumination value to arrive at the end illumination valueno matter where each illumination device is located within a structure,within the WPAN, or within that group. In addition to scenes, shows,group addresses and routing tables, a need still further exists inhaving each illumination device within a group obtain a common endillumination value within a pre-defined amount of time needed togradually fade at a consistent, previously changing rate to the endillumination value when a button on the controlling keypad is releasedso that it achieves an illumination value common among disparatelylocated illumination devices within a group.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following description of various embodiments of an illuminationsystem and method hereof is not to be construed in any way as limitingthe subject matter of the appended claims. Instead, the followingdescription outlines the various solutions to the problems and needsdescribed above, wherein such problems are in large part solved by animproved illumination system and method for maintaining a commonillumination value, and specifically an end illumination value among agroup of illumination devices when a button on a keypad that wirelesslycontrols that group is released after it has been pressed and held pasta hold time. The illumination devices can include any device whichprovides an illumination output; however, a preferred illuminationdevice is one having one or more LEDs, preferably arranged in chains.The keypad can be any device having a processor and memory to computeand store start and end illumination values, and can send those values,as well as a start change signal wirelessly over an RF channel, forexample, to one or more groups of illumination devices within a WPAN. Apopular communication network for a WPAN includes a mesh network, and apopular communication protocol includes IEEE 802.15.4, a subset of whichis ZigBee. The keypad can be associated with a mobile device, such as asmartphone. Instead of the press, hold and release button being on awall mount plate of a switch, for example, the button or buttons of thekeypad can be on the graphical user interface (GUI) of the mobiledevice. The mobile device might communicate using the Ethernet, WiFi, orBluetooth to a bridge, hub or gateway before communication to theplurality of the illumination devices arranged in a WPAN mesh thatcommunicates via ZigBee.

According to a first embodiment, an illumination system is provided. Theillumination system comprises a keypad and a group of illuminationdevices wirelessly coupled to the keypad. The keypad comprises a buttonconfigured to send a start change signal or command to begin changingthe illumination value or values in the illumination devices when thebutton on the keypad is held beyond a hold time, and is furtherconfigured to send an end illumination value as a command to theillumination devices to obtain that end illumination value when thebutton is released after sending the start change signal. The group ofillumination devices are not only wirelessly coupled to the keypad, butalso wirelessly coupled to each other over one or more hops. The groupof illumination devices can receive the start change signal at differenttimes and thereafter achieve the end illumination value common among thegroup of illumination devices at different times after the button isreleased. Yet, because of a pre-determined masking time available toeach of the illumination devices in the group, those illuminationdevices are allowed to continue an additional fade for each illuminationdevice when they receive the end illumination value. In this fashion,illumination devices can never get out of sync from each other in thegroup, and from the controlling keypad, unless those illuminationdevices do not receive the end illumination value command. Absent themasking time, the illumination devices would pop quickly to the endvalue instead of fading smoothing and consistently with the previouslychanging rate over, for example one second masking time.

Regardless of when each illumination device within the group achievesthe end illumination value, the end illumination value will be commonamong the group as long as the end illumination value command isreceived by the group and the end illumination value is smoothlyachieved over the masking time, within the dedicated, pre-definedmasking time amount that begins after the button is released andcontinues for a duration necessary for each illumination device togradually settle to the common end illumination value. That common endillumination value is stored in each illumination device for use as thestart illumination value from which the subsequent change occurs whenthe next time that the button is pressed and held past the hold timeamount and the start change signal is sent.

According to a second embodiment, an illumination system is providedthat comprises a keypad having a button that, when pressed and heldbeyond a hold time and released thereafter, the keypad computes an endillumination value based on an amount of time that has elapsed after thehold time and thereafter when the button is released. The illuminationsystem according to the second embodiment further comprises a group ofillumination devices wirelessly coupled to the keypad for receiving thestart change signal or command as well as the end illumination valuewithin an end illumination value signal or command sent from the keypadfor gradually and smoothly changing an illumination value from the groupof illumination devices to the end illumination value at different timesafter the button is released, yet all within the masking time.

According to both of the above embodiments, the keypad and group ofillumination devices are wirelessly coupled preferably over an RFnetwork that is a WPAN. When a signal or command is sent from the keypadacross the WPAN, from hop-to-hop to a group of illumination devicescontrolled by a button actuation on the keypad, that command is receivedon the group of illumination devices at different times depending on thedistance between the keypad and each of the group of illuminationdevices, the number of hops therebetween, whether there is interferenceon the wireless channel, or if multiple retries are needed causing thecommand to be sent multiple times before an acknowledge is sent backthat the recipient illumination device received that command. Thedifferent delays between the keypad and corresponding illuminationdevices within a group being controlled necessitates a masking time tobe appended after the button is released. A masking time of, forexample, a predefined one second, allows illumination devices that maybe more distal and thereby having a greater delay in command receipt tocomplete the change in its value up to, or down to, the end illuminationvalue. Without the appended masking time, various ones of the group ofillumination devices may have different illumination values when theyreceive the release signal or command from the keypad signifying the endof the start change signal. Moreover, as noted in conventional press,hold and release keypads, when the subsequent start change signal issent from a keypad, if the group of illumination devices previously haddifferent illumination values, the change in illumination value wouldtherefore begin from different start illumination values resulting in afurther disparity in the resulting illumination value upon a buttonrelease. That disparity would continue to grow each time a button ispressed and thereafter released on the keypad due to the cumulativestatic disparity in illumination device locations within that group.

According to yet a third embodiment, a method is provided forcontrolling an illumination value within a group of illuminationdevices. The method comprises pressing a button on a keypad. Thereafter,the method comprises holding the button on the keypad for more than apredetermined amount of time, such as a hold time. A start change signalalong with a group address is then groupcast from the keypad to thegroup of illumination devices having the group address, across one ormore hops. The illumination value in each of the group of illuminationdevices thereafter begins their change. A button on the keypad can thenbe released thereby terminating the changing of the illumination valuein each of the group of illumination devices but at different times yeteach arriving at the same end illumination value after releasing thebutton on the keypad and positively sending the end illumination valuecomputed on the keypad.

The step of begin changing occurs from the same, or common startillumination value that is stored in each of the group of illuminationdevices as well as the keypad that controls that group. Therefore, thestart illumination value is preferably the same throughout the keypadand group and, since the step of changing the illumination value in eachof the group of illumination devices terminates at different times, thesame or common end illumination value results in that keypad and thatgroup being controlled by that keypad. Terminating the changing of theillumination value at different times preferably occurs within thepre-defined masking time after the button is released on the keypad. Themasking time is a time allotted so that all of the group of illuminationdevices have enough time to eventually achieve the end illuminationvalue groupcast as a command from the keypad to the group ofillumination devices being controlled regardless of how many hops,interference, retries, etc. the wireless communication channelencounters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreading the following detailed description and upon reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan diagram of a structure comprising a plurality ofillumination devices wirelessly in communication with each other andwith a remote control keypad that is either a physical keypad or avirtual keypad on a graphical user interface (GUI) of a mobile devicelinked to the network of illumination devices by a gateway, router orhub;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illumination system comprising anillumination device within a group that is controlled by a keypad;

FIG. 3 is a plan diagram of a group of illumination devices within anetwork wirelessly controlled by one or more keypads for receiving oneor more illumination values;

FIG. 4 is an example of a group of illumination devices having a groupaddress as well as scene or show content stored therein, accessible bythe keypad to change upon groupcast addressing of an illumination valuestored within the group with various delays in the change;

FIG. 5 is an example of buttons on a keypad, according to oneembodiment, to change the illumination values of a group of illuminationdevices wirelessly controlled by the keypad;

FIG. 6 is an example of buttons on a keypad, according to anotherembodiment, to change the illumination values of a group of illuminationdevices wirelessly controlled by the keypad;

FIG. 7 is a state diagram of the press, hold and release states and theeffect on the start and end illumination values communicated to thegroup of illumination devices and the keypad;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the computation of an endillumination value and sending of same to from the keypad to the groupof illumination devices; and

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram of the delay from a press state on the keypadto when a change in illumination value begins on various illuminationdevices within the group, and the corresponding masking time needed tomake the end illumination value common among the illumination devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an example of aresidence 10 containing a plurality of illumination devices 12 a, 12 b,12 c, etc. Not all illumination devices are labeled for sake of brevityin the drawings. A residence, or structure 10, may have numerousbedrooms, living rooms, and outdoor illumination regions, and asignificant number of illumination devices 12 can be arranged throughoutthat structure, more so than those shown in FIG. 1.

Preferably each illumination device 12 comprises at least one LED and awireless communication interface. A popular communication protocol canbe WPAN using IEEE 802.15.4 and/or any protocol based thereon, such asZigBee. The illumination devices within various rooms can have differentfunctionality and have different appearances. For example, illuminationdevices in the ceiling may be PAR illumination devices, whereasillumination devices in nightstands, or next to couches can be A20illumination devices. There can also be illumination devices, or lamps,such as wall lamps, or any other type of configuration needed for astructure 10. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the living room can havefour illumination devices arranged as downlights in the ceiling and twoillumination devices placed on stands 11 next to a couch 13. Moreover,structure 10 can have at least one bedroom, with possibly two downlightillumination devices mounted in the ceiling, an illumination device onnightstand 15 and two illumination devices on chest 17. Of course, therecan be multiple other configurations, with the configuration shown inFIG. 1 as only an example of illumination devices 12 arranged within aportion of a structure 10.

Also arranged within structure 10 are keypads 14 a and 14 b, possiblymounted on a wall, similar to a light switch. Similar to illuminationdevices 12, keypads 14 can be removably coupled to an AC mains. The ACmains can provide power to the illumination devices and keypads 14.However, in some instances the keypad need only be coupled to the ACmains for recharging an internal battery within each keypad so that thekeypad can be removed and taken from its, for example, wall mountlocation to anywhere within a room having a group of illuminationdevices that it controls. As shown in FIG. 1, keypad 14 a controls oneor more groups of illumination devices within the living room, whereaskeypad 14 b can control one or more groups of illumination deviceswithin the bedroom.

Keypads 14 a and 14 b in the example shown in FIG. 1 wirelesslycommunicate over a first communication protocol to their correspondinggroup or groups of illumination devices via a WPAN RF communicationlink. However, it is contemplated that a second communication protocolcan be used and linked to the first communication protocol via a bridge,gateway or hub 18 that can be placed in proximity to the structure 10and can allow the second communication protocol such as Ethernet, WiFi,etc. to communicate from, for example, a mobile phone proximate to ordistal (several hundred miles, or further) from the structure 10 to thevarious groups of illumination devices 12.

Turning now to FIG. 2, an illumination system 20 is shown according toone example. Illumination system 20 comprises a group of illuminationdevices controlled by a keypad. For sake of brevity, FIG. 2 illustratesone illumination device 12 possibly within a group of multipleillumination devices controlled by a keypad 14. The illumination devicecan comprise a plurality of emission LEDs 22 arranged in, for example,four chains of any number of serially connected LEDs. For example,emission LEDs 22 may include a chain of red LEDs, a chain of green LEDs,a chain of blue LEDs and a chain of white or yellow LEDs. However, thepreferred embodiments are not limited to any particular number of LEDchains, any particular number of LEDs within each chain, or anyparticular color or combination of the LED colors. In some embodiments,the emission LEDs 22 may be mounted on a substrate encapsulated within aprimary optic structure of an emitter module, possibly along with one ormore photodetectors.

In addition to the emission LEDs 22, illumination device 12 includesvarious hardware and software components for powering the illuminationdevice 12 and controlling the light output from the one or more emittermodules. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, illumination device 12 isconnected to AC mains 24, and includes AC/DC conversion 26 forconverting the AC mains voltage to a DC voltage. The DC voltage can besupplied directly to a driver circuit, such as an LED driver circuit 28to produce the drive currents that are then supplied to the emissionLEDs 22 for producing illumination. If necessary, another converter,such as a DC/DC converter may be needed to convert the DC voltage to alower voltage used to power the lower voltage circuit of theillumination device 12, such as phase-locked loop (PLL) 30, interface32, real time clock 34 and memory 36 of controller 38. The DC/DCconverter may or may not be needed, and additional timing circuitry maybe needed to provide timing and synchronization signals to thecontrolling driver circuits.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, PLL 30 is included withinillumination device 12 for providing timing and synchronization signals.PLL 30 can lock onto the AC mains frequency and can produce a high-speedclock (CLK) signal and a synchronization signal (SYNC). The CLK signalprovides timing for the controller 38 as well as the LED driver circuit28. The SYNC signal is used by the controller 38 to create the timingsignals used to control the LED driver 28. An example of variousconfigurations for illumination device 20 are set forth in U.S. Pat. No.9,392,663 commonly assigned and herein incorporated by reference.

Interface 32 within illumination device 12 can be used to receivedatasets, or content, from an external calibration tool duringmanufacturing of the device, or during provisioning or commissioning ofthe illumination device 12, or group of illumination devices. Thedatasets or content received via interface 32 may be stored in a mappingtable within storage medium 36 of controller 38, for example. Examplesof data set or content that may be received via interface 32 include,but are not limited to, the luminous flux, brightness, intensity,wavelength, chromaticity, and/or color temperature emitted by theillumination module 22. In addition, an address of each illuminationdevice as well as a common group address for a group of illuminationdevices that are to have a common start and end illumination valuescontrolled by a single groupcast signal can be stored as content withinmemory 36 during commissioning or provisioning of the variousillumination devices 12 within structure 10. The mechanism in whichillumination devices are grouped during the commissioning process and aswell as addresses and group addresses assigned to each group as well ascontent stored in the various groups is set forth in U.S. Pat. No.9,655,215 commonly assigned and herein incorporated by reference.

In addition to receiving datasets or content during provisioning orcommissioning of various groups of illumination devices, interface 32can also be used to receive commands, or signals, from, for example, oneor more keypads 14 remote from, yet wirelessly communicating with, oneor more groups of illumination devices 12, as shown in FIG. 2. By useractuation on a button or slider of keypad 14, a command to change theillumination value previously stored in an illumination device can bewirelessly transmitted. Similar to controller 38 of each illuminationdevice 12, keypad 14 contains a memory 40. For reasons that will bedescribed below, memory 40 like memory 36, contain start and endillumination values. The start illumination value within each of thegroup of illumination devices stored in memory 36 is preferably the sameas the start illumination value within memory 40 of keypad 14 thatcontrols that group. Likewise, the end illumination value stored in eachof the group of illumination devices within the corresponding memory 36is the same as the end illumination value stored in memory 40 of keypad14. Also, preferably, the end illumination value is computed by aprocessor 42 by fetching the start illumination value within memory 40and updating that illumination value to an end illumination value aswill be described below. The end illumination value is then groupcast asa value within a command to obtain the end illumination value sent tothe appropriate group of illumination devices based on the group addressstored in memory 36 of each of the illumination devices within thatgroup.

While interface 32 is preferably a wireless interface configured tooperate over an RF channel according to, for example, ZigBee, or anyother proprietary or standard wireless data communication protocol,interface 32 can also comprise a wired interface to, for example, a wirethat couples from keypad 14 to each of the plurality of illuminationdevices within structure 10. Using the CLK and SYNC signals receivedfrom PLL 30, real time clock (RTC) 34 can receive via interface 32 aperiodic set of time of day signals from, for example, keypad 14 toperiodically change the scene within one or more groups of illuminationdevices at a time-based interval to create a show. The show can have achange in daylight emulation as a function of time of day as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 9,655,215 commonly assigned and herein incorporated byreference.

FIG. 3 illustrates the different types of communication protocols, aswell as communication between different types of keypads 14 and one ormore groups of illumination devices 12. A keypad, such as keypad 14 a or14 b, can simply be one or more mobile devices that include a donglewith a USB interface and radio. The dongle can be plugged into the USBport of the mobile device and the combination of both forms keypads 14 aor 14 b that communicates through that dongle, or built-in interface, tothe appropriate interface within each of the illumination devices 12 ofa group or groups of illumination devices. Not only does a keypad withexternal interface or built-in interface communicate with thecorresponding interfaces of illumination devices 12 directly via thewireless personal area network (WPAN) but can also correspond with eachother so that one keypad can wirelessly communicate with another, asshown. If a keypad, such as a mobile device or smartphone with externalor built-in interface 14 c is to communicate through a hub, bridge orgateway 18, then keypad 14 c communicates using a different protocol(second protocol) than that of the first protocol at which the variousillumination devices 12 communicate with each other as well as keypad 14a and 14 b.

During the discovery, commissioning or provisioning phase, for example,a broadcast discovery signal is sent from keypad 14 through the WPANmesh network from hop-to-hop, as shown by FIG. 4. The broadcastdiscovery signal is acknowledged with an acknowledge signal sent backfrom, for example, unique addresses 19 to 28 to 31 illustrated, forexample, in hexadecimal. The broadcast discovery and acknowledge backforms a routing table with a destination address and next hop addressshown in FIG. 4 for a particular illumination device 12 x. The routingtable is stored in the memory of illumination device 12 x, along withwhat will be described as the group address and the content associatedwith that group address. The group address and content can have a groupaddress of, for example, the four downlights within the living room ofstructure 10 shown in FIG. 1, and illustrated in the routing table ofFIG. 4 (LIVING: 4 DN) thereby forming the groupcast table. Descriptionsof forming the groupcast table as stored in the memory of eachillumination device within each group, as well as the content,destination addresses and the next hop address are illustrated in U.S.Pat. No. 9,655,215 commonly assigned and herein incorporated byreference.

Of importance, shown in FIG. 4, is that each illumination device withina particular group address, such as the living room four downlight groupaddress, is the same. In particular, the illumination values stored inthe memory of each illumination device within a group is the endillumination value that becomes the start illumination value when thekeypad button undergoes the next press state. The common endillumination values becomes the subsequent common start illuminationvalue or any values which have an effect on the output of anillumination device, such as brightness, intensity, chromaticity, colortemperature, wavelength, flux, etc. Those illumination values can bestored as part of the groupcast table within memory of each illuminationdevices within the group so that when a button is actuated on thekeypad, and depending on that button, an end illumination value or astart illumination value is stored.

Importantly, when a press state occurs on a button of a keypad, not onlyis a groupcast address sent to each illumination device within thatgroup, but also a start change command is sent to change theillumination value toward an end illumination value computed on releaseof that button. As shown in FIG. 4, depending on the distance betweenkeypad 14 and each of the illumination devices within a group ofillumination devices beginning with illumination device 12 x, adifferent delay occurs before each illumination device receives thestart change command. That delay, whether DLY₁ or DLY₂ depending on theillumination device being affected causes each illumination devicewithin the group to achieve the end illumination value at differenttimes after the release state occurs.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, a keypad 14, whether appearing on afaceplate of a switch coupled to a wall or on a GUI of, for example, amobile device, can take on different configurations. For example, asshown in FIG. 5 keypad 14 can present or display various buttons orsliders 50 that, when actuated by a user, send various commands orsignals from keypad 14 to a group of illumination device 12. Accordingto the embodiment of FIG. 5, associated with buttons 50 are plus andminus buttons 50 a. When a command button 50 is depressed and, at thesame time or shortly thereafter a plus or minus button 50 a is depressedand held, a start change signal and a change in illumination signal orcommand is sent. Depending whether the plus button or the minus buttonis depressed, the command to increase or decrease, respectively, theillumination value in the receiving group of illumination devices isundertaken. For example, if the illumination value is brightness, thenthe plus or increase button 50 a will cause a reverse dimming (increasein brightness) on the recipient illumination devices 12. Conversely, ifthe negative or decrease button 50 a is depressed, a fading ofbrightness in the receiving illumination devices 12 will be undertaken.

The amount of change in illumination value depends on the amount of timethat the increase or decrease button 50 a is depressed. Moreover, todistinguish from an inadvertent “tap” by a user and not a purposefully“press,” a timer may be necessary. The increase or decrease button musttherefore be depressed for a hold time period exceeding a predeterminedamount of time given the timer readout in order to distinguish betweenan actual button press state and an inadvertent tap condition. Thus, atap on a button, and particularly the inadvertent increase or decreaseon tapping buttons 50 a will not register a change in illumination valuein the illumination devices unless the tap becomes a press due to theuser depressing the button beyond a predetermined hold time.

Instead of having actual increase and decrease buttons 50 a as shown inFIG. 5, FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment where a user needonly depress a single button 52 past a certain amount of time in orderto cause the start change signal and either an increase or a decrease inillumination value upon the illumination devices 12. There may bemultiple ways in which to discern if the press and hold is to increaseor decrease illumination value, where one way may simply be depressingone end or the opposing other end of the corresponding toggle-configuredbutton 52. Another way may be to use a single or a dual tap beforepressing and holding the corresponding button 52. Of course, there canbe numerous other ways to discern an increase or decrease in theillumination value yet use a signal button for doing so.

As shown in both embodiments of FIGS. 5 and 6, there can be multiplecommands since there are multiple different types of illumination valuesthat can be changed. For example, command A can be dedicated tointensity, whereas command B can be dedicated to brightness, and commandC can be dedicated to color temperature, etc. Given the rather largenumber of various illumination values, the number of command buttons 50and 52 can be quite large corresponding to each illumination value thatcan be changed.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a state diagram is shown of the various states ofan illumination system comprising a keypad 14 and a group ofillumination devices 12 affected by operation of that keypad 14. When auser first depresses a button, or actuates a trigger, on keypad 14 a tapstate 56 is detected. If that button remains depressed or actuated pasta hold time (T_(HLD)), a press state 58 is detected. The hold time canbe a pre-determined time, such as 300 ms from when a timer is started inthe tap state 56. Once in the press state 58, another timer can be set,and the elapsed time (T_(ELP)) is computed until such time as the buttonis released in the released state 60. Meanwhile, while in the pressstate 58, the elapsed time until the release state is sent along withthe start illumination value stored in memory 40 of keypad 14. Forexample, if the increase button 50 a in FIG. 5 is pressed and held, thatbutton will indicate an increase from a start illumination value thatpre-existed in memory 40. Also sent to the release state is a maximumillumination value (VAL_(MAX)), as well as a maximum time (T_(MAX))needed to achieve that maximum value. The maximum time can be apre-defined time needed to achieve a smooth transition from a relativelylow start illumination value (VAL_(START)) to a maximum illuminationvalue (VAL_(MAX)). Importantly, the maximum illumination value is eitherthe maximum value if increased or decreased. For example, if brightnessis the illumination value, then the maximum illumination value is themaximum reverse fading value or positive fading value.

Having received maximum illumination value, the start illuminationvalue, the maximum time value, and the maximum elapsed value, uponrelease of the button during release state 60, a computation occurswhereby the end illumination value (VAL_(END)) is sent from releasestate 60 to the group of illumination devices 12. A more detailedexplanation of the computation occurring in the release state 60 and anexample of different values, including the end illumination value is setforth in FIG. 8. FIG. 7, however, illustrates the importance of thevarious states and what occurs in each state, both in the keypad 14 andthe group of illumination devices 12. As shown, the start illuminationvalue is taken from the preceding end illumination value (VAL_(END(−1)))within keypad 14. If, for some reason, keypad 14 loses power and thusthe start illumination value is lost, keypad 14 can draw the startillumination value (VAL_(START)) shown in dash line from the updateVAL_(START) state 62 in illumination devices 12. The update VAL_(START)state generates the start illumination value shown in dash line from thepreceding end illumination state stored in memory 40 of the illuminationdevices 12 so that both the keypad and its corresponding group ofillumination devices 12 have a common start illumination value as wellas a common end illumination value. In addition, FIG. 7 illustrates amasking time (T_(MASK)) sent from release state 60 to each of the groupof illumination devices 12 in order to give those devices enough time tocomplete their change in illumination values needed to achieve a commonend illumination value, as will be described in more detail in FIG. 9.

Turning to FIG. 8, the computation of the end illumination value withinkeypad 14 is shown. The computation begins by receiving the startillumination value, the maximum time needed to achieve a maximumillumination value 72 and the maximum illumination value 74. Once thebutton is released after being held past the hold time, the keypadenters the release state 60 and the timer times out to an elapsed timethat is computed at block 76. The amount of elapsed time the button toincrease/decrease an illumination value is held past the hold time thenreleased, or T_(ELP), is then divided by the maximum time needed toachieve a maximum (or minimum) illumination value at block 78. The startillumination value is then subtracted from the maximum illuminationvalue 80, and all of the various values, and particularly the startillumination value plus the elapsed time divided by the maximum timemultiplied by the maximum value minus the start illumination value arecomputed at block 82 to achieve the end illumination value (VAL_(END)).The end illumination value is then sent at block 84 from the keypad 14to the group of illumination devices 12 it controls in a groupcastsignal addressed to that group. The group of illumination devices 12will continue their rate of change in illumination value set out inblock 82, such that the group of illumination devices 12 will eventuallyachieve the end illumination value at a gradual and consistent ratedefined as (T_(ELP)/T_(MAX))*(VAL_(MAX)−VAL_(START)). Therefore, insteadof increasing or decreasing more rapidly than the rate of previouschange (i.e., popping) to the end illumination value once received, themasking time allows the graduate rate of previous change to continuesmoothly over, for example, one second masking time until the endillumination value is eventually obtained. Continuing the gradualprevious rate or change, and having a pre-defined masking time thatensure all change can be completed within that time, any error betweenthe illumination values within each illumination device within the groupis essentially hidden, or masked, from visual detection as they wouldgradually change at the previous rate, without visually “popping”, tothe common end illumination value. The keypad 14 will maintain its endillumination value common to the sent and stored end illumination valuein each of the group of illumination devices. Moreover, the common endillumination value becomes the common start illumination value when thebutton is subsequently pressed in a press state and thereafter releasedin a release state. In this fashion, the end illumination value alwaysremains the same within the keypad and as well as the group ofillumination devices it controls, as does the start illumination value.

An example of the various values to help explain the computation if anincreasing change in illumination value is shown in block 90, and adecreasing change in illumination value is shown in block 92. Beginningwith block 90, the start illumination value can be 20, either inabsolute or relative (e.g., percentage) value. The start illuminationvalue is symbolized with an “X”. The elapsed time can be 5 seconds, andthe maximum time to achieve a maximum increase to a maximum value can be6 seconds. If the maximum illumination value is 100, then the endillumination value (VAL_(END)) is equal to 20+⅚ (100−20), or 88.6 in theexample shown in block 90. Conversely, if a decrease in illuminationvalue is undertaken, then block 92 illustrates a start illuminationvalue, X equal to 20, and elapsed time of 5 seconds, a maximum time of 6seconds, and a maximum illumination value now being only 2, since adecrease is undertaken from 20 down to 2. Thus, a maximum illuminationvalue can be thought of as a maximum lower value upon decrease. Sincethe elapsed time does not equal the maximum time, the end illuminationvalue (VAL_(END)) equals 20+⅚ (2−20), or 5, rather than 2.

The example illustrated in FIG. 8 can be applied to the timing diagramof FIG. 9. FIG. 9 illustrates the hold time (T_(HOLD)) after a tapoccurs to when a press occurs at T_(PRESS). The press state at timeT_(PRESS) causes the keypad to send a start illumination value ofmagnitude X at time T_(PRESS). It is not until a release state at timeT_(RELEASE) is an elapsed time T_(ELP) calculated, as well as the endillumination value. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the end illumination valueis sent from the keypad 14 to each of the illumination devices 12 withinthe group.

However, to achieve the end illumination value on each of thedisparately located illumination devices, a masking time, T_(MASK), isneeded. That disparity in time is due to the different locations betweenthe keypad and each of the group of illumination devices. For example,the first illumination device (illumination device 1) may not receivethe start change signal until time (T_(START CHG)) when DLY₁ hasoccurred. Thus, even though the start change signal is sent from thekeypad at time T_(PRESS), it does not arrive on the first illuminationdevice until DLY₁ has expired, or at time T_(START CHG). At the time inwhich the start change signal is received on the first illuminationdevice, the magnitude of the start illumination value is at X, eventhough the keypad illumination value is at X+2, as shown. Meanwhile, atillumination value X+5 on the keypad registers only an illuminationvalue of X+2 on the first illumination value. Meanwhile, due to DLY₂being greater than DLY₁, the illumination value in the keypad is at X+5,the first illumination device is at X+2, and the illumination device 2is only at the start illumination value, or X. The numbers shown abovein the example are arbitrarily chosen only to show relative differencesin start illumination values between the keypad 14 and illuminationdevices 12 within a group.

The differing times at which the start illumination value occurs on eachillumination device, and therefore the differing times at which thestart change signals received on each of the different illuminationdevices causes differing errors in illumination value on theillumination devices compared to the end illumination value when thebutton is released on the keypad at T_(RELEASE). The error on the firstillumination device causes the illumination value (VAL_(ID1)) to be lessthan the end illumination value sent by the keypad when the button isreleased at T_(RELEASE). Accordingly, VAL_(ID1) is equal to endillumination value minus an error. The error increases from error 1 toerror 2 from illumination device 1 to illumination device 2, causing anincreased error, and therefore a lessened illumination value (VAL_(ID2))at T_(RELEASE) upon VAL_(ID2) relative to VAL_(ID1).

The example in FIG. 9 illustrates an increasing change in theillumination value. However, it is understood that a decreasing changein illumination value can alternatively occur, as shown by line 90.However, for sake of brevity in the drawing, both increase and decreaseillumination values are not shown in favor of showing only one with theunderstanding that a change in illumination value applies to either anincrease or a decrease.

In order for the group of illumination devices being controlled by akeypad to achieve the end illumination value sent from the keypad tothat group, a masking time (T_(MASK)) is needed that would exceed thelast illumination device that arrives at the end illumination value. Themasking time can be preset, with the knowledge that whatever that presettime is, there would be sufficient time allocated for the lastillumination device to achieve its end illumination value. For example,the preset time can be set at, for example, one second. Havingsufficient masking time ensures that all of the illumination deviceswithin the group do not end up in an unknown illumination value state atthe end of one second but, instead, all end up in the end illuminationvalue within one second. Thereafter, when the next press and holdoccurs, the previous end illumination value is used for the startillumination value, and the start illumination value is consistent amongall of the illumination devices within the group as well as the keypadthat controls the group. Synchronizing the start illumination value andthe end illumination value, whatever those values, in the illuminationdevices as well as the controlling keypad ensures all of theillumination devices change and their illumination values in parallelwith the keypad and that the change begins on a common value and ends ona common value.

It will be appreciated to those skilled in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure that this invention is believed to provide synchronizedstart and end illumination values among a keypad in a group ofillumination devices being controlled by that keypad. It is alsoappreciated that this mechanism and method for synchronizing a keypadstored value to illumination devices stored value can extend to anyvalue, at the beginning and end of change, to any group of devices beingcontrolled and a controlling device. Examples of such devices can extendbeyond simply illumination, but to, e.g., a joystick controlling a groupof robot positions, etc. Any system that proves beneficial to maintain acommon start and end value among the controlling and controlled devicesis hereby encompassed by the inventive aspects described herein. Furthermodifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of theinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of thisdescription. It is intended that the following claims will beinterpreted to embrace all such modifications and changes. Accordingly,the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrativerather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lighting controller to uniformly adjust anillumination parameter on respective ones of a plurality of illuminationdevices, the lighting controller comprising: one or more user inputdevices to receive a user input having a temporal duration; memorycircuitry to store data representative of a starting value associatedwith the illumination parameter across the plurality of illuminationdevices; and controller circuitry communicatively coupled to the one ormore user input devices and to the memory circuitry, the controllercircuitry to, responsive to receipt of the user input via the one ormore user input devices: determine an ending value associated with theillumination parameter across the plurality of illumination devices, theending value determined based on: the temporal duration of the userinput; the starting value associated with the illumination parameter; amaximum value for the illumination parameter across the plurality ofillumination devices; and a maximum time to achieve the maximum valueacross the plurality of illumination devices; communicate a maskinterval to the plurality of illumination devices; and cause theillumination parameter across each of the plurality of illuminationdevices to change at a defined rate to achieve the ending value over atemporal interval equal to or less than the sum of the temporal durationof the user input plus the mask interval.
 2. The lighting controller ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more user input devices comprises atouchpad.
 3. The lighting controller of claim 1, wherein the one or moreuser input devices comprises a rocker switch.
 4. The lighting controllerof claim 1, wherein the control circuitry to further: receive thestarting value associated with the illumination parameter from at leastone of the plurality of illumination devices.
 5. The lighting controllerof claim 1, wherein the control circuitry to further: cause theillumination parameter across each of the plurality of illuminationdevices to begin to change at the defined rate responsive to thetemporal duration of the user input exceeding a defined temporalthreshold value.
 6. The lighting controller of claim 1, wherein thecontrol circuitry to further: cause a storage of the ending valueassociated with the illumination parameter in the memory circuitry, theending value associated with the illumination parameter to become thestarting value associated with the illumination parameter responsive toa subsequent change to the illumination parameter.
 7. The lightingcontroller of claim 1, wherein the illumination parameter includes atleast one of: a brightness of each of the plurality of illuminationdevices; an intensity of each of the plurality of illumination devices;a chromaticity of each of the plurality of illumination devices; a colortemperature of each of the plurality of illumination devices; awavelength of the illumination produced by each of the plurality ofillumination devices; or a luminous flux produced by each of theplurality of illumination devices.
 8. A lighting control method touniformly adjust an illumination parameter on respective ones of aplurality of illumination devices, the method comprising: receiving auser input having a temporal duration; responsive to receipt of the userinput, retrieving a starting value associated with an illuminationparameter across the plurality of illumination devices; determining anending value associated with the illumination parameter across theplurality of illumination devices, the ending value determined based on:the temporal duration of the user input; the retrieved starting valueassociated with the illumination parameter; a maximum value for theillumination parameter across the plurality of illumination devices; anda maximum time to achieve the maximum value across the plurality ofillumination devices; communicating a mask interval to the plurality ofillumination devices; and causing the illumination parameter across eachof the plurality of illumination devices to change at a defined rate toachieve the ending value over a temporal interval equal to or less thanthe sum of the temporal duration of the user input plus the maskinterval.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: determiningwhether the temporal duration of the received user input exceeds adefined temporal threshold value.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereinretrieving the starting value associated with the illumination parameteracross the plurality of illumination devices comprises: retrieving thestarting value associated with the illumination parameter across theplurality of illumination devices responsive to the determination thatthe temporal duration of the received user input exceeds the definedtemporal threshold value.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving auser input having a temporal duration further comprises: receiving auser input via a touchpad.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein receivinga user input having a temporal duration further comprises: receiving theuser input via a rocker switch.
 13. The method of claim 8, whereinretrieving the starting value associated with the illumination parameteracross the plurality of illumination devices further comprises:retrieving the starting value associated with the illumination parameterfrom at least one of the plurality of illumination devices.
 14. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: storing the ending valueassociated with the illumination parameter in a memory circuitry, theending value associated with the illumination parameter to become thestarting value associated with the illumination parameter responsive toa subsequent change to the illumination parameter.
 15. The method ofclaim 8, wherein causing the illumination parameter across each of theplurality of illumination devices to change at a defined rate furthercomprises: causing an illumination parameter that includes at least oneof: a brightness of each of the plurality of illumination devices; anintensity of each of the plurality of illumination devices; achromaticity of each of the plurality of illumination devices; a colortemperature of each of the plurality of illumination devices; awavelength of the illumination produced by each of the plurality ofillumination devices; or a luminous flux produced by each of theplurality of illumination devices.
 16. A non-transitory,machine-readable storage device that includes instructions that, whenexecuted by control circuitry, cause the control circuitry to: receive,via one or more user input devices, a user input having a temporalduration; retrieve a starting value associated with an illuminationparameter across a plurality of illumination devices responsive toreceipt of the user input; determine an ending value associated with theillumination parameter across the plurality of illumination devices, theending value determined based on: the temporal duration of the userinput; the retrieved starting value associated with the illuminationparameter; a maximum value for the illumination parameter across theplurality of illumination devices; and a maximum time to achieve themaximum value across the plurality of illumination devices; communicatea mask interval to the plurality of illumination devices; and cause theillumination parameter across each of the plurality of illuminationdevices to change at a defined rate to achieve the ending value over atemporal interval equal to or less than the sum of the temporal durationof the user input plus the mask interval.
 17. The non-transitory,machine-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the control circuitry to: determine whether the temporalduration of the received user input exceeds a defined temporal thresholdvalue.
 18. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage device of claim17, wherein the instructions that cause the control circuitry toretrieve the starting value associated with the illumination parameteracross the plurality of illumination devices further causes the controlcircuitry to: retrieve the starting value associated with theillumination parameter across the plurality of illumination devicesresponsive to the determination that the temporal duration of thereceived user input exceeds the defined temporal threshold value. 19.The non-transitory, machine-readable storage device of claim 16, whereinthe instructions that cause the control circuitry to retrieve thestarting value associated with the illumination parameter across theplurality of illumination devices further causes the control circuitryto: retrieve the starting value associated with the illuminationparameter from at least one of the plurality of illumination devices.20. The non-transitory, machine-readable storage device of claim 16,wherein the instructions further cause the control circuitry to: storethe ending value associated with the illumination parameter in a memorycircuitry, the ending value associated with the illumination parameterto become the starting value associated with the illumination parameterresponsive to a subsequent change to the illumination parameter.
 21. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein theinstructions further cause the control circuitry to: cause anillumination parameter that includes at least one of: a brightness ofeach of the plurality of illumination devices; an intensity of each ofthe plurality of illumination devices; a chromaticity of each of theplurality of illumination devices; a color temperature of each of theplurality of illumination devices; a wavelength of the illuminationproduced by each of the plurality of illumination devices; or a luminousflux produced by each of the plurality of illumination devices.